


Bird in the Hand

by Acernusaurus



Series: Jail Birds [1]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Board Games
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-30
Updated: 2017-01-30
Packaged: 2018-09-20 20:21:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9511892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Acernusaurus/pseuds/Acernusaurus
Summary: "You're bored, I'm bored, we're going to play a game."What does a crime fighter do when there isn't any crime? Play board games with a criminal.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello friends.
> 
> I don't own any of this. Nor do I have a beta reader so any mistakes are my own. This came to me between Black Siren's introduction and the finale so it takes place in a universe before/without Flashpoint.

The first time Cisco wandered down to the Pipeline was a routine check. Hartley had developed a new sound dampening system and it had to be monitored regularly until it was fully tested. Sure, the next check could wait until tomorrow but Cisco wasn't going to admit that to himself. With Barry on a date and Caitlin out of town, Cisco was feeling pretty lonely on Crime Watch by himself. He simply wanted to see a familiar face, even one that hurt.

Cisco was surprised to find her wearing her prisoner issued Star Labs sweats instead of her duster. That must mean she was done testing the new system for escape potential. Instead she was sitting in the corner in front of her bathroom door flicking dust bunnies. They couldn't let the prisoners on the internet but Cisco did offer to download anything they requested directly into the cells (no reason to add stir-crazy to their list of personal issues). She hadn't taken him up on the offer.

"How are we doing today, Dinah?" Cisco asked through the comm system. They couldn't bear to call her Laurel and she didn't like the name anyway.

Black Siren stopped her game but remained cross-legged on the floor. "Spectacular." she said dryly. She didn't bother Siren Crying the mic anymore. That trick had only worked once and everybody's hearing had eventually returned.

"Happy to hear it," Cisco said, making a show of checking the readings on his tablet. He peaked over it to see her watching him with her chin in her hand. "You sure I can't get you anything?" he asked trying to sound nonchalant.

"The only thing you can do for me _Vibe_ ," she sneered the word, "is let me go."

"So you can try to make our heads explode?" Cisco asked. "Nah."

Black Siren looked thoughtful, "I've never actually tried that," she said. "It would be an interesting experiment. For science."

"Tempting," Cisco said, giving her a bland look.

Black Siren sighed and went back to her game, pointedly ignoring him. She seemed to be as tired of this exchange as he was. Though usually they only conversed in glares. Dinah Laurel Lance could convey a heck of a lot in a single glare. Cisco finished checking the readings and left.

\---

The second time Cisco wandered down was only an hour later. He had watched Siren continue to flick lint, and then use her Siren Cry to try to launch it further. Eventually she settled back to stare into space. That decided it for him. He set the automated alert system to ping Barry and him if there was a situation, rummaged around a bit in one of the lesser used supply closets near the break room, and headed back down to the Pipeline. He was already mostly set when the main door was open enough for Black Siren to be glaring out at him some more. But the glare couldn't stand up to her confusion when she saw what he was doing. "What is this Vibe?"

"This," he said, dealing out the money, "is the game of Life. We are going to play."

"Is this a-"

"Not a joke. You're bored, I'm bored, we're going to play a game."

Black Siren refused to humor him at first. He obviously had to do all the spinning but the question of whether she wanted to go to college was met with an angry stare that he took as a yes. When he asked her to pick a job she crossed her arms. He blindly picked one for her and she became a doctor while he became a teacher. He finally got a response from her when it was time for her to get married.

"Who do you want it to be?" Cisco repeated the question, holding up a pink piece and a blue piece. "We are fans of marriage equality here at Star Labs. So a tiny blue dude or a tiny pink dudette."

She held his eyes for a long moment before inclining her head towards the pink dudette. He didn't know if she was actually letting him know something personal but he put the pink person in the passenger seat of Siren's yellow car.

Cisco picked a pink spouse as well but switch her into the driver seat and put his blue self in the back seat. "I needed a nap," Cisco answered Siren's questioning raised eyebrow.

Cisco did wonder if he had picked the wrong game. He narrated Siren's turns for her but after the initial few the game didn't really have many choices. Even buying a house was a random draw.

"You bought a cute little cabin," Cisco told her before spinning and advancing his own car to the house spot. "Your turn again."

"You have to buy a house too!" Siren stopped him before he could spin.

"Maybe in the new versions," Cisco told her, hiding his amusement at her interruption. "But this board says 'you _may_ buy a house'. It's optional and Carol and I are perfectly happy living in our car." Siren looked churlish but there was no denying what the board said. She gestured for him to make her spin.

The game continued. Siren had twin boys. Cisco got a career change and became a police officer. They both had baby girls and Siren had two more kids after that, a boy and a girl ("My poor wife," Cisco heard her mumble). Cisco adopted his own set of twin girls. Neither of them bought stock though Cisco did ask her every couple turns if she wanted to. Nor insurance but they both managed to get away with it unscathed. In the end they both chose Millionaire Acres but Cisco ended up being the one to win.

"What can I say?" he said with a shrug as he cleaned up the game. "The secret to Life is living uninsured out of your car with your wife and 3 daughters." He paused, "it also helps to win the lottery and the Nobel Peace Prize." Siren rolled her eyes and looked at him disdainfully. He might have imagined her trying to hide a smile.


	2. Chapter 2

Black Siren seemed surprised when he showed up again later in the week, but pleasantly so. She wasn't exactly eager to play a game of checkers but she didn't make him drag it out of her this time. She even surprised him by calling out her moves in Chess Notation.

Every few days, whenever he had some solo time, Cisco would grab a game from the supply closet and head down to the Pipeline. As it became a regular thing Siren's greeting changed from surprise to pretend indifference to barely concealed impatience. He knew better than to call her out on it though.

Caitlin must have found out about the arrangement almost immediately since she spent as much time at Star Labs as Cisco. She probably noticed it on the security cameras but she chose not to bring it up. Cisco only figured out she must know because, after the pair's third time playing Monopoly, new games began appearing in the closet.

Barry remained in the dark until a particularly difficult Meta put Cisco in the hospital for a week. Cisco was in and out of consciousness but Caitlin told him afterward that Black Siren had knocked her knuckles bloody trying to get someone's attention to tell her what had happened to Cisco. Caitlin couldn't really explain the situation to Barry, since she hadn't really asked about it herself, but she did talk it over with him. "He doesn't really approve," she told Cisco. "But I don't thinks he's going to try to stop you. Not after her reaction."

\---

Cisco was touched by Siren's concern. Their conversations before had always been limited to the games but Cisco decided to start telling her stories. No critical superhero information of course, just anecdotes. She got to hear about Caitlin's misadventures with a cursed amulet ("Caitlin may be a genius but evil genius she is not. Even possessed she is terrible at evil plans. We are so lucky she touched the necklace first."). She was fascinated by the one about Supergirl literally falling out of her own dimension and landing in the middle of Central City Park ("Aliens?" "Awesome, right?"). Though she wasn't as impressed as Cisco was by the tale of Wally and Speedy's intercity prank war ("Do you not understand how far they go for this? Even with the train?").

In return he managed to coax out a few personal details. Her parents separated when she was still a kid and she left for Central City with her mom, never returning since. She started college pre-law but got bored and dropped out entirely. And then the particle accelerator accident happened and she found her calling. Cisco wanted to ask about Sara but he didn't know how to safely bring it up.

\---

During a particularly exciting game of Clue, Cisco got his wish. He was telling a story about the Legends. "No one really saw what happened but he was lying on the ground and Sara had to be broken out of a military prison."

"Sara?"

Cisco knew right away that he messed up. Until that moment he had been careful to only use code names for the Legends. But he tried to gloss over it. "Yeah, apparently she and Mick had a standing bet over who could punch Hitler in the face first. They weren't even supposed to run into him in that part of the world."

"Sara Lance?"

Cisco winced and froze at her tone as he was reaching for the candlestick. Dinah had never mentioned if she even had a sister but it sounded like there was a history there. He knew he had been too scared to ask but it seemed like the conversation was unavoidable now. "Yeah. White Canary."

Siren's mouth hung open like she was about to ask a question, but she didn't actually say anything. It seems Zoom had only given her details about Laurel when he sent her after them. Since she looked as if she was struggling, Cisco decided to help give her time. "Want to see a picture?" he asked gingerly.

Dinah nodded, still pre-question. He set the candlestick down in the conservatory and got to his feet, heading to the Time Vault. In the alcove that had used to hold Reverse Flash's creepy suit tube he had set up a desk and covered it with what Caitlin called his 'superhero selfies'. It wasn't a complete set yet but he was getting there. He grabbed a hinged folding frame and headed back to the Pipeline. One side held the picture Laurel had gifted him in exchange for her Canary Cry. The other was a signed photo of Sara in her original Canary outfit, a shot some lucky photojournalist had gotten during the Mirakuru attack. Sara had seen the photo from Laurel during one of the Legends' stops at Star Labs and afterwards Cisco had received the signed photo in the mail with a note that said 'Thought you should have the set'. Tucked into the bottom of the frame there was also a small, wallet-size photo of the entire Waverider crew that Sara had included in her last Christmas card.

(Sara liked to send Christmas cards whenever the ship landed in a December. The cards arrived randomly throughout the year and Cisco knew the gang in Star City got one too, but he had no idea how they were delivered. He even tried to trace the weird stamps and markings and came up with nothing. Eventually he asked Rip about it but the man told him the Waverider 'is not capable of such things'. Cisco had to show him the cards as proof and a shocked Rip went to have a long talk with Gideon. He came back looking perturbed and Cisco decided not to press the matter.)

Cisco folded the frame back so that only Sara was visible before entering the Pipeline and holding it up to the glass. Siren, who had stood up while he was gone, move as close to the glass as possible, almost unconsciously.

"Your sister," he asked, "Is she...?"

"I don't know," Laurel--Dinah said quietly. Sadly. "I haven't seen her since we left. I heard she might have become a cop like dad. But cops don't last long in Starling City." Her face closed up and she took a step back, composing herself. "Who's in the other picture?"

Cisco looked at it sadly. "No one."

"Show me."

"Really, it's not--"

"Cisco." She hardly ever called him Cisco, it was usually Vibe and always with a hint of scorn. This was different. He turned the frame around and she stepped forward again to look.

"Pretty Bird," Dinah sounded sad still. For what, Cisco couldn't tell. "It would have been fun to meet her."

"She wouldn't have liked you."

"That would be half the fun."

The moment passed. Cisco set aside the frame to be returned to the Time Vault and sat back down to the game. Two turns later Dinah accused his character of using the rope to commit the murder in the Billiard Room. "An impractical weapon in a room full of wooden staffs," she assured him but she had the right answer. He cleaned up the game and got up to leave. As he reached the door Dinah called "Cisco" one more time. He turned back. "Don't let Sara know I'm here."

"Why?" Cisco asked. If they told anyone Cisco felt that Sara should be number one.

"Her sister is dead. Neither of us should have to deal with that."

Cisco thought of his own doppelbrother and thought he might understand. But if anyone else found out before Sara? "I can't promise that Dinah, but I will do my best. See you on Thursday." He left.

**Author's Note:**

> If anyone has suggestions for additional tags I am open to hearing them.
> 
> Thanks for reading. :)


End file.
